Kura Te Waru-Rewiri (Ngapuhi, Ngati Kahu, Ngati Rangi, Ngati Kauwhata) studied fine art at Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. After graduating she studied at teachers' college and then taught art in schools, tertiary institutions, universities and whare wananga. She was a founding member, in 1987, of the Te Atinga Committee Toi Maori. In 1993 she and Selwyn Murupaenga were the first Maori appointments to the Elam School of Fine Arts. Kura moved from Elam to teach on the Toioho ki Apiti Bachelor of Maori Visual Arts programme in 1996 and taught there until 2006. Cassandra Barnett is an author and artist of Raukawa, Ngati Huri and Pakeha descent who writes poetry, essays and short fiction about cultural and ecological futures. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies of creative writing and art criticism, and she has appeared at many art and literary events and festivals both in Aotearoa and abroad. Cassandra has a PhD in art writing and philosophy from the University of Auckland and a Master's in creative writing from Victoria University of Wellington.